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A Surprise Arises
#WritcoStoryChallenge
The car sped through the dark night, it's headlights flashing, warning the incoming traffic that they better move aside or be ran off the road. The other cars swerved and barely escaped unscathed. The car continued on, seemingly uncaring for any other drivers safety until finally they turned off onto an old country road. Gravel flew and dust clogged the air as they zipped down the straightaway.
There was no moon this night. The only light the beams of the car piercing straight ahead. Dark fields of some sort of crop whipped by interspersed with tree rows and the occasional cross road. A blackness ahead quickly resolved into a mass of trees and a dead end. The driver of the car pressed a button on the dash and a section of the trees seemed to grow legs and walk aside.
The car slipped through without slowing and made it with mere inches to spare. It was now driving on smooth asphalt under a long canopy of trees. A rectangle of lights appeared straight ahead and suddenly the car began to coast. Speed, long-held, was bleeding off as slowly the driver drifted to a stop. Another button and this rectangle became a door. In he drove.
Parking in his reserved space, he unbuckled and got out. There was an elevator ahead and he races to it. Door was open so in he went and pressed the button that would take him to his destination. The closed with a slight hiss and a whisper. A sudden acceleration down lifted the man upwards until he felt about half his regular weight until it leveled off.
A ding. The doors opened and he strode out purposefully down a short hall. A silver door with a strange emblem met him at it end. A scanner scanned his face and retina. He spoke a soft phrase that was both speech-recognition and password. Three lights beside the door turned green and the door swished aside.
Inside there was a plush chair with white leather upholstery and chrome plated steel supports. The chair sat in front of a console with a single button. The man sat gingerly and rubbed his hands together as if to warm them up. And then, without further fanfare, he pressed the button.
....
Deep beneath the earth's crust near the edge of the mantle a device in a hardened and insulated shell whirred and went silent. The countdown sequence halted and reset. The earth self-destruct was averted. The world, miles above, was unaware of their near miss. And they blithely went about their lives in safety and peace. For now...
The car sped through the dark night, it's headlights flashing, warning the incoming traffic that they better move aside or be ran off the road. The other cars swerved and barely escaped unscathed. The car continued on, seemingly uncaring for any other drivers safety until finally they turned off onto an old country road. Gravel flew and dust clogged the air as they zipped down the straightaway.
There was no moon this night. The only light the beams of the car piercing straight ahead. Dark fields of some sort of crop whipped by interspersed with tree rows and the occasional cross road. A blackness ahead quickly resolved into a mass of trees and a dead end. The driver of the car pressed a button on the dash and a section of the trees seemed to grow legs and walk aside.
The car slipped through without slowing and made it with mere inches to spare. It was now driving on smooth asphalt under a long canopy of trees. A rectangle of lights appeared straight ahead and suddenly the car began to coast. Speed, long-held, was bleeding off as slowly the driver drifted to a stop. Another button and this rectangle became a door. In he drove.
Parking in his reserved space, he unbuckled and got out. There was an elevator ahead and he races to it. Door was open so in he went and pressed the button that would take him to his destination. The closed with a slight hiss and a whisper. A sudden acceleration down lifted the man upwards until he felt about half his regular weight until it leveled off.
A ding. The doors opened and he strode out purposefully down a short hall. A silver door with a strange emblem met him at it end. A scanner scanned his face and retina. He spoke a soft phrase that was both speech-recognition and password. Three lights beside the door turned green and the door swished aside.
Inside there was a plush chair with white leather upholstery and chrome plated steel supports. The chair sat in front of a console with a single button. The man sat gingerly and rubbed his hands together as if to warm them up. And then, without further fanfare, he pressed the button.
....
Deep beneath the earth's crust near the edge of the mantle a device in a hardened and insulated shell whirred and went silent. The countdown sequence halted and reset. The earth self-destruct was averted. The world, miles above, was unaware of their near miss. And they blithely went about their lives in safety and peace. For now...
